Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127124
February 1 988 meeting The American Motocycli st Associa tion held meetings for its board of trustees and its cor porate memb ers in Cincinnat i, Ohio , on February 20, 1988. At th e a n n ua l me eting of co rpora te member s, AMA C ha irma n J ohn Hasty reported o n the sta te of the Association, em p hasizing its fin an cial solve ncy, m ember ship growth , and efforts to in itiate long-range planning. Membersh ip Development Director Mark Mederski delivered a slide presen ta tion o n th e m ethods that th e Association h as used to in crease its membership in s pi te of declining new m o torcycle sales. Key points made by Mederski included: eThe AMA has ac h ieved steady grow th over th e p ast decade, in creasin g it s enrollment by an average rat e of 2600 members p er year si nce 1984. e An improved in volve me nt with the ind us try brough t a 90% growth in corp o ra te m em bersh ip during 1987. e The m o st effective recruiti ng techniques incl ude word o f mou th, di rect mail , phone solicitation, a nd magazine advertisi ng. eThe Associatio n's be ne fits p ackage has more tha n doubled since 1982 and m embers rank go vernment relations ac tivity and Am eri can Motorcyclist as th eir best ben efi ts. . e In creased p ositive co verage in th e mot orcycle press has benefi tted th e Assoc ia tio n. James H a risen , Dia mandis Mot orcycl e G roup ; T i m oth y H o elter, H arley-Davidson Motor Com pa ny; and Robert Moffit, Kaw asaki Mo to rs Corporation were reelected to twoyear terms on th e AM A's Board o f Trustees. Followin g th e an n ua l meeting of corporate m embers, the AMA Board of Trustees co vened. AMA co uns el advised that in th eir opinion th e Insport Agreem ent ha s be en br eached by SXI, In c. Following dis cu ssion th e trustees a u thorized the staff to p ro ceed with its sa nc tio ni ng process. The trustees received a report from AMA President Ed Youngblood about the Association 's pro racing function. While Youn~bloodand th e AMA's strategic pl anning committee recommended code changes tha t would replace the advisory committees with a system of direct con tact with interes ted part ies in an effort to achi eve efficiency an d more timely rules making, the trustees voted to maintain th e sta tus quo. The board, however, rejected a co u nter proposal for the tr ustees to be come more actively involved in professional rules making. All offi cers wer e reelected for 1988 including John Hasty, ch a irm an; William Baird, vice ch airm an: James Hansen, treasurer; Timothy Hoelter, assistant treasurer, and Dal Smilie, secre tary. Bill Baird, Robert Perkins, and Ed Youngblood were reelected as trustees of the American All-Terrain Vehicle Associ a tio n. Dal e Smilie, Bill Bia rd , Bob Perkins, H azel Kolb, a nd Paul Sch lege l were ree lecte d as trustees of the Am erican Motorcycl e Heritage Foundation . H ansen reviewed the 1987 audi ted financial sta te m ent, report ed o n current fin ancial performan ce, and presented fin ancial project ions tha t indica te a lik el y strong p er formance for 1988. Sm ilie re ported that th e H eritage Fo undatio n had received a $2 1,000 co n tr ib utio n fro m the Harl eyDavid son Motor Company in th e name of the la te Carl Kish wh o had designated H arl ey-Davidso n ben efi ciary under hi s life ins u rance policy. In part, the funds will be used to estab lish a living memorial depicting Harley-Davidson's involvement in m o torcyclin g. T he trust ees reviewed fund in g pro posa ls to ren o vate th e A MA Westerville headquarters, in cluding the creation of a p ublic ex h ib it hall for th e Am eri can Mo torcycle H er itage Foundation, an d th ey authorized Mr. Youn gbl ood to initiate the proj ect, a llocati ng up to $800,000 for co ns truction. It is hoped that renovat ion can begin during th e su m me r of 1988. Sch legel moved that income from th e . Loretta Lynn Ama teur MotoCI-OSS National Championsh ips be limited to u se b y the H eritage Foundation during 1988. Following discu ssion th e trustees decided th at th ese funds shou ld rem ain availab le for the ge nera l purpo ses o f the Associa tio n. Govern me nt Relations Vice President Rob Rasor reporte d o n key legislat ive ac tio ns a nd p redicted a very active year d uri ng 1988. H e advised th e trustees tha t a flood of ATV related state level legislation wo u ld likel y have ad verse effects.o n o ff-road m ot orcycl ing. Professional Racin g Vice President Bill Amick reponed on market ing accom p lis h me nts tha t incl ude : e Separate media guides for moto cross a nd th e Ca mel Pro Seri es will become ava ila ble in 1988, en ha nci n g information flow to the fan s a nd th e rnotorsports press. e T h e AMA p rof essional racing program is a t a .hi storic hi gh for corpora te series sp ons orsh ip. Ca me l, Ca strol, RK Chain, Bel-Ray, Vance & Hin es, a n d EBC Br akes will provide m ore th an $600,000 in poi nt funds. e T h e Grand National dirt track seri es is eq ua l to 1987 with 19 even ts, but th e n ew 600cc series has exceeded proj ections with 21 events sche du led for 1988. Amick reported th at the su bstan ce . abuse p ro gram had been ex p an ded for 1988 an d that spo nsors h ip had been secured to defray expenses. Presiden t Ed Youngblood reported th e following: e T h e Associ ation's rela tio nsh ip with G eico Indemnity is under review a nd o the r carriers are being considered. e T h e AMA will participa te in a n important motorsports li ability conferen ce in March . e A perpetuation o f th e m yth of motorcyclists as purse sn at ch ers that appeared recen tly in Dick Tracy h as been tra ced d ire ctl y to Am erican Express ne gative advert isin g. The trustees recommended that Los Angeles Herald Ex amin er co lu m n ist G ordon Dillow be written " letter of commendation for h is a r ecent positive co l u m n a bo u t motorcycling. The AMA Board of Trustees will next meet August 19, 1988, a t Wes- . terville, Ohio, and November 18, 1988, at Las Vegas in connection with the 1988 Barstow-to-Vegas event. e Wh en would you pay $72 for a piece of paper? 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Name _ A ddress _ Ci ty ,...Zip --''-- Stete _ _ Phone . o Payment enclosed (check or money orde r. payable t o Cycle News) ICA res. add 6% LA County res. add 6'1.>%) . _ _._ =,~ o Charge my Vise 0 Charg e my Ma sterca rd Charge Customers: We must have complet e account numbe r -end card axpira tion data. Card No. _ Expira ti on Date -'- Signat ure _ Ord er Now On ly $ 72. 00 incl. shipping, ready to frame c/o Cycle Ne ws P.O. Box 4 9 8, Long Beach , CA 90801-0 498